And the actor, who lives in Wicklow, has chosen Italian-born, New York-based designer Domenico Vacca to dress him for the biggest night of his career after paying a low-key visit to his Manhattan studio.

Perhaps, in choosing Vacca as the designer, the Lincoln actor felt that he needed a bit more than the luck of the Irish to get his hands on the treasured statuette.

The couturier's tuxedos have brought luck for several previous Oscar winners.

Speaking about the meeting, Vacca said: "Daniel understands quality hand-tailoring and fabrics in clothing and it is an honour to dress such an amazing actor for the Oscars.

"I spent time talking to him about our sartorial, hand-made clothes. The fits and fabrics are an art that only few of us still pursue in clothes-making."

Being the biggest star of the night, Daniel has not one but two tuxedos to choose from before he decides at the last minute which one be prefers.

His first outfit will be black and the second one navy blue. He will make his decision at a final fitting in Los Angeles before tonight.

Both tuxedos are single-breasted and feature a shawl collar in grosgrain. This, instead of satin, is the classic Italian sartorial tradition.

The shirt is a simple design and features Vacca's signature high collar. Big-screen legends Mickey Rourke and Dustin Hoffman are also among his well-known clientele.

Meanwhile, Quentin Tarantino has revealed ahead of tonight that Day-Lewis could have had a lead role in his most famous cult movie, Pulp Fiction.

The director explained how his producer Harvey Weinstein wanted the My Left Foot star to play the main part of Vincent Vega and didn't approve of Tarantino's suggestion of John Travolta.

In a new Vanity Fair expose, Tarantino revealed: "One of the actors I had on the list was John Travolta. And it came back, 'The entire list is approved. . . except for John Travolta.'

"So I got together with Harvey and he's like, 'I can get Daniel Day-Lewis'."

However, Tarantino stuck to his guns and fought for Travolta, eventually winning Weinstein over.